Beamed with Pride

Are we proud? Oh yes!

London Pride 2015 was truly fabulous, and our InterMedia float was to die for. Creative Skillset and its LGBT network group Powwa (Part of Who We Are) co-founded InterMedia nearly three years ago, and the Pride parade showed what a network can do when it connects and collaborates…even in the competitive TV industry!

MTV Viacom led the whole plan – with ITV, Sky, BBC, Discovery and others lending expertise and support – and we ended up with this amazing float, complete with screens showing LGBT content to the crowds, playing the best music EVER heard at Pride. Justine and Simon our float managers, Shay our set designer, Alex our on float DJ and Alec our technical wizard (all from Viacom) did us proud… not forgetting Stephen from ITV managing our lovely talent from Emmerdale, Eastenders, Holby and Corrie.

We've certainly come a long way since last year, when our biggest tech challenge was stapling a bit of wood to our flag to make it into a proper banner!

You should've seen their faces!

I really enjoyed being a wheel steward for the first time, along with other Steering Group folk and members of the InterMedia community who also mucked in. You could really feel the energy all around! The crowds in front turned their heads and started dancing as they heard us approaching. Watching the delight on their faces as they saw some of their favourite soap stars wave at them was one of the many pleasures of the day – even if the T shirt so wasn’t my colour!

The warmth from the crowd shows a great change in the response to Pride parades over the years. Gone are the days when we used to duck bottles from less enlightened folk in buildings along the way. I’m not a fan of being ‘tolerated’ by anyone – and the whole marriage thing isn’t for all LGBT folk – but being really out and proud and doing our own thing with friends and colleagues, in a bold, celebratory, damn good party type way, is still a thrill.

Feel the love!

The straight people in the crowd, of all backgrounds and ages were on our side, clearly loved the proud gayness of it all. Straight colleagues and friends we marched with were and are diamonds. Some workplace groups call them straight allies, but we call ours Powwa Rangers – here’s two of the loveliest… and both cracking dancers too!

InterMedia is here to provide a social network for people working in media – industries often perceived as LGBT friendly places, but that doesn’t mean barefaced and damaging prejudice doesn’t still exist. And while our float screens showed what could be done, we still need more realistic and frequent portrayal on TV, film and online. We’re a community which supports individuals, provides enjoyable and useful events for meeting people and making connections, and takes action to lobby for fair and realistic portrayal of LGBT people from all backgrounds. Find out more about what we’re up to here.

As ever, Powwa to the people…and thanks InterMedia for a Pride to remember!

What we do

Creative Skillset supports people under-represented in the media industries with training bursaries. We have a Diversity Fund which women, BAME and disabled people who are LGBT can apply to. We’re also developing a LGBT Creative Leadership Programme with Stonewall for later in the year.